Manual therapy refers to a physical treatment performed by a therapist to stimulate the body surface with hands and control the meridians. The history of the manual therapy is very long and it has been widely used until now owing to easy operation, fast effect and needlessness of many tools. The manual therapy is called and classified differently, and includes tui na, acupressure, massage, chiropractic, bodywork, or the like. Especially, the French word massage means “rubbing” and is derived from a Greek word meaning “rubbing or pressing as if washing one's hair”.
The manual therapy is effective in regulating yin and yang, connecting the meridians and circulating qi and blood. In addition, it is known to be effective in promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, removing tumor and relieving pain, lubricating joints, and strengthening muscles and bones. Mechanically, massage helps venous blood flow, promotes lymphatic flow, reduces edema, and relaxes tissues.
The manual therapy may be utilized for skin care. The neck skin is less resistant external stimulation than the face skin. Also, the neck skin tends to show rapid increase in damage of barrier function represented by the transepidermal water loss (TEWL) with aging. In addition, excessive stimulation to or wrong massage on the neck may result in stress to the neck skin.
Accordingly, a specialized manual therapy is necessary for the neck. Especially, when skin cosmetics are used for the neck skin, a method capable of enhancing the effect of the cosmetics while minimizing stress to the skin is required.